Daily Archives: June 23, 2021

Right Wing Crazies & Libertarians Join In On Socialist Rally To Defund The Police With Hilarious Results – Free Keene

Posted: June 23, 2021 at 6:37 am

Defund the police rally in Keene, NH

A socialist led organization the NH Youth Movement has been rallying its troops across NH this past week in an effort to get cities and towns to defund their police forces. However the rally that was planned for Keene didnt go quite as the organizers expected.

While there isnt a significant socialist presence in New Hampshire there are plenty of socialists in surrounding states that from time to time muster up the occasional rally in NH through the busing in of left wing extremists. This is particularly easy to do in Cheshire with the county neighboring Vermont and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts being right next door plus students from out of town attending Keene State College.

A few days before the rally was to occur the Keene City Republican Committee Chair Anne L. Farrington got wind of the socialists organizing of a protest and rallied her opposition country-folk to attend a counter protest for the same time and date.

We want to show our support for law enforcement by coming out in strength to Back the Badge! The rally will be in Central Square tomorrow from 5:30pm-8:00pm. Please join us and bring friends who support our police!

Anne L. Farrington

This attempt at undermining the NH Youth Movements protest turned out to be as hilarious as one might have anticipated. Not so much because there were people shouting back and forth, but in that it appeared that the rally attracted all of one intentional NH Youth Movement member and another five or so socialists who just happened upon the Republicans counter-protest.

To make for an entertaining afternoon a handful of libertarians got together to join in on the fun making a few signs in advance of the event, saying things both opposing sides would theoretically agree with and disagree with at the same time, like Defund the pigs & end socialism. Is it a socialist protest? Is it a right wing protest? Who knows, but certainly the passerbys didnt quite follow what was going on with all the shouting from every side and direction. Both from protesters and from passing cars alike.

After numerous conversations with the right-wing nut jobs and left wing extremists it turned out that each side had a lot in common. Both the republicans and the socialists were in favor of socialist programs, but the agenda for which programs to fund and defund were different. The young socialists wanted to see free college tuition and police dollars redistributed to other social programs like housing the homeless. The counter protesters expressed a desire to continue funding social security and the police state.

What both the left and right failed to grasp was that the money doesnt exist to fund all of these programs. The use of violence and the state to take money from the populous only works up to a point before that theft becomes so great that it undermines the revenues that can be generated. This leads to a failure of the programs both sides are trying to fund through theft.

Now this doesnt mean that all parties cant get what they want, but the means by which those funds are raised must not be through the violence that is the state. The overhead of state mandated programs is significant, the inefficiencies great, and the ever increasing amounts undermining to the objectives of both sides.

When the state gets involved a significant portion of the revenues generated are eaten up by the extraction of those funds from the populous and the overhead of management- not to mention corruption. When people are left to decide for themselves by comparison individuals pick the least expensive options which deliver the maximum benefit thus reducing costs and making such services affordable. Between competing offerings individuals can afford to pay for college when competition is left to run its course, government isnt handing out free money, and security (policing) doesnt cost six figures per employee. Lets end all of the social welfare programs: Police, education, health care, social security, corporate welfare, and so on, and then hand back the financial resources to the people by eliminating the taxes that make these programs perform poorly as only then will those dollars stolen be best and most efficiently utilized.

Check out the entertaining video with left wing extremists, libertarians, and right wingers all competing for air time in or surrounding the public square.

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Noticing the common good | Religion | themountaineer.com – The Mountaineer

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Last Tuesday was my first trip to the library since COVID shutdowns. On my way in, I admired the 10 or 15 volunteers working to beautify the grounds. I walked through a pollinator garden noticing all kinds of insects, hopping from the milkweed to the butterfly bush or the coneflowers, as though they had entered the Promised Land!

Once inside the cool air-conditioning, I couldnt help myself from checking out some DIY booklets about making curtains and flavored vinegars. A few retirees perused periodicals. Folks were busy with all kinds of things on the internet in the public computer area.

Downstairs I asked the friendly child librarian where I could find books at reading level F, so that my kindergartners brain retains some of the lessons hard-won by a combination of her and her teachers hard work. An added bonus is that I got to enroll both my kids in the summer reading program.

Libraries are a concrete expression of the abstract term, the common good.

Most people agree on the benefits of having a library in a community (though I suppose some libertarians might oppose taxpayer funded libraries!). They offer resources, incentives for learning, places to connect with others both physically and across time and space through reading. My trip to the library was a gift that challenged the veracity of the popular narrative of our ever-deepening division and tribalism.

I wonder where you, dear readers, go to see, participate in and appreciate the common good.

The Blue Ridge Parkway or tubing down Deep Creek in Great Smoky Mountains National Park? The dog park or playground, the local health department? And how do you support the common good? Paying taxes, yes, but how else? Picking up trash as you walk in your neighborhood? Voting? Reading the paper? Stewarding your land for the next generation?

The idea of the common good occurs very early in Christianitys ancient story.

In Genesis, even as God enters a special partnership with Abraham and his descendants, Gods intention is to bless the whole world (Gen 12:3). Or think about the prophet Jeremiah telling the Jewish exiles in Babylon that their well-being, as a distinct tribe, depended on the well-being of the whole city (Jeremiah 29:7).

Fast forward to the New Testament where Paul is teaching about the diversity of spiritual gifts. He reminds the early Christians that their gifts are given for the common good (1 Cor 12:7).

Just what is the common good? In Catholic Social Teaching it is defined as the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.

The common good stands in contrast with many isms, such as utilitarianism, the greatest good for the greatest number; tribalism, the greatest good for people in my group; and individualism, which consistently prioritizes the good of the individual over the community. With the common good, the individual good and collective good benefit one another, like a single player on a winning sports team.

While policy-makers cant easily derive public policy from this concept, I believe trying to discern the common good is vital to help us frame productive civil discourse.

Life is always evolving, and so our vision of the common good changes and shifts over time. Yet one thing is constant in our pursuit of it: to remember that we do not live for ourselves alone. The temptation toward self-centeredness lurks within us and surrounds us, but with Gods help it need not overcome us, at least not all the time.

The Rev. Joslyn Ogden Schaefer is the Rector at Grace in the Mountains Episcopal Church in Waynesville.

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How a GOP Senate resolution condemning critical race theory distorts the facts – Poynter

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In Americas fraught debate over race and justice, a blend of Republicans, libertarians and conservatives have focused their ire on critical race theory.

Its not a well-defined target.

Supporters describe critical race theory as a collection of ideas, not a single doctrine, that explain why racial inequality and disparities persist long after civil rights laws and court rulings barred discrimination.

Opponents use it as a blanket label for any discussion of white privilege, and they have encouraged local school districts to forbid the teaching of anything that addresses systemic racism.

TheFlorida State Board of Educationbanned it from classrooms June 10, putting it in the same category as denying the Holocaust. Idaho alsopassed a lawto keep it out of public schools.

At the federal level, Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott recently introduced aSenate resolutionthat said critical race theory serves as a prejudicial ideological tool, rather than an educational tool, and should not be taught in K-12 classrooms. The resolution encourages states and localities to take actions that would discourage critical race theory.

In the style of resolutions, the measure is built on a sequence of Whereas clauses to establish what the sponsors consider to be the factual basis for the resolution.

We vetted a handful of these clauses in Scotts resolution, and found that they included distortions of critical race theory and practice to present a one-sided view of a more complex issue.

We asked the three senators who co-sponsored the resolution for specific information to back up their claims. We also contacted three groups that play a dominant role in fighting critical race theory in schools. We got no answers.

This is wrong.

TheCivil Rights Act of 1964 was the fulfillment of decades of work by civil rights activists to end legal discrimination. Supporters of critical race theory generally applaud those efforts. Their complaint is that the legacy of discrimination persisted after the law passed.

When the law passed, it was hailed as a major step towards equality.

President Lyndon B. Johnsonsaid when he signed the bill July 2, 1964, those who are equal before God shall now also be equal in the polling booths, in the classrooms, in the factories, and in hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, and other places that provide service to the public.

The law and its proponents envisioned that discrimination would be weeded out of government programs, out of housing, and out of the job market. That didnt happen.

The gap between the promise and the results is what drove the formation of critical race theory. Almost exactly three decades after Johnson spoke, Harvard philosopher Cornel Westcreditedthe founders of critical race theory for exposing societys failure to deliver on the possibilities for human freedom and equality.

In her 2018 book Critical Race Theory: A primer, University of California-Berkeley law professor Khiara Bridges noted that Blacks remained disproportionately poor. The Civil Rights Act, Bridges wrote, was necessary but insufficient.

Critical race theory seeks to make real the promises of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Bridges told PolitiFact. To claim that it is inconsistent with the Civil Rights Act is dishonest.

We found no current article by a critical race theory supporter that advocated resegregating schools. If the desire exists, it appears to be limited.

According to theCivil Rights Projectat the University of California-Los Angeles, desegregation peaked in 1988. That year, about 6% of minority schools were classified as intensely segregated that is at least 90% of the students were non-white. By 2016, the fraction of intensely segregated minority schools tripled to 18%. So non-white students are increasingly segregated.

Taking a snapshot of the mix of ethnicities in schools, in 2016, the typical white student went to a school where nearly 70% of the other students were white. The typical Black or Hispanic student went to a school where about 25% of the students were white.

Dorinda Carter Andrews, education professor at Michigan State Universitys College of Education, said talking about race, racism and oppression in the classroom is not the same as teaching students critical race theory. It is, though, important to cover.

Young people are not colorblind or color mute, Andrews said in aJune 4interview. If children of color are old enough to experience racial discrimination and injustice, then all children, especially white children, are old enough to learn about racism in ways that enhance their cross-cultural competency, racial literacy skills and skill set for improving our democracy.

A1993 bibliography of scores of articleson critical race theory identified some writings that held that people of color can best promote their interest through separation from the American mainstream. But that was just one out of 10 themes the researcher tracked. It showed up infrequently and, when it did, was only occasionally directed at schooling.

The intellectual grandfather of the theory, law professor Derrick Bell, had a pragmatic take on desegregation. Integration alone, Bell said, was a poor guarantee of an equal education.

Bell was less concerned about Black and white students going to the same school, and more about them getting the same quality schooling the same books, the same course offerings and the same sort of facilities.

While the rhetoric of integration promised much, court orders to ensure that Black youngsters received the education they needed to progress would have achieved much more, Bell saidin 2004.

This is unsupported.

In the first place, officials who want to ban critical race theory cant point to examples where it is being taught in their K-12 schools. So the indoctrination of schoolchildren described in this claim would be difficult.

There is classroom teaching around historic and ongoing racism, which is an element of the theory. One of the pioneer theorists, University of Wisconsin professor emeritus Gloria Ladson-Billings, wrotein 1998that critical race theory starts with the premise that racism is normal, not aberrant, and the strategy becomes one of unmasking and exposing racism in its various permutations.

As for hatred of American institutions, the U.S. economic system does come under fire for its emphasis on private property. Ladson-Billings wrote that at the countrys founding, property defined who could vote. And by allowing humans to be owned, the founders put property rights above human rights.

African Americans represent a unique form of citizen in the United States property transformed into citizen, Ladson-Billings wrote. This process has not been a smooth one.

Ladson-Billings does not denounce capitalism. Neither does she equate it with democracy, which she aims to uphold.

We may have to defend a radical approach to democracy that seriously undermines the privilege of those who have so skillfully carved that privilege into the foundation of the nation, she wrote.

The incoming president of the National Academy of Education, Carol Lee, said critical race theory is one of several perspectives that can shine a light on American society. Lee oversaw the academys guidance to schools onteaching civic reasoning.

We essentially argue that young people, in fact all citizens and those living within the U.S., need to understand both the inequalities that have (been) and continue to be embedded in our practices and institutional configurations, Lee told PolitiFact. But at the same time they must understand the unique and powerful features of legal governance in the U.S. that provide pathways for engaged citizens to struggle peacefully to transform laws and practices that oppress people.

This distorts the 1619 Project and how it was received.

In 2019, the New York Times Magazine unveiled aspecial editionon the legacy of slavery and racism in America. The project, which took its name from the year that the first slaves arrived in the colonies, also made curriculum materials available to schools.

The magazines editor-in-chief, Jake Silverstein, bluntly explained the premise of the project. Out of slavery and the anti-Black racism it required grew nearly everything that has truly made America exceptional, Silverstein wroteDec. 20, 2019.

The 1619 Project drew two letters of critique from historians.The first, signed by five historians from Brown, Texas State, Princeton and City University of New York, said the project provided a praiseworthy and urgent public service. But they raised several issues of fact.

They objected to the claim that the colonies declared independence in order to ensure slavery would continue. They said the article cherrypicked Abraham Lincolns thinking on slavery. They also took issue with a line that said for the most part, Black Americans have fought their freedom struggles alone.

The New York Times pointed to the historical facts it relied on and ultimately softened the wording about independence and slavery.

We recognize that our original language could be read to suggest that protecting slavery was a primary motivation for all of the colonists, Silverstein wroteMarch 11, 2020. The passage has been changed to make clear that this was a primary motivation for some of the colonists.

The magazine got a second letter from12 historians. Its central complaint was that giving slavery such a pivotal role in American history oversimplified matters and left out too much context. Like the first group of historians, they also said Lincolns words had been misrepresented.

Silverstein replied that criticism of the project is separate from errors of fact. The magazine shared its notes on historical points and made no corrections.

The project drew criticisms, but to say it was debunked goes too far. Plus, the classroom version came with more materials and wasnt identical to what was first published.

This article was originallypublished by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute. It is republished here with permission. See the sources for these fact checkshereand more of their fact checkshere.

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Letter: Freedom could be more individualized, but not lost in the United States – Shreveport Times

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Timothy Holdiness, Letter to the Editor Published 9:48 a.m. CT June 22, 2021

Everyone should get the COVID-19 vaccine, though I can understand any uneasiness tied to it.

Our government hardly ever gives anything out for free, which can cause some concern when the vaccine is being provided for free. The proof of vaccination that comes with it shouldnt be seen as a tool to segregate anyone. I have not personally been asked for proof of my vaccination, even though I have it readily available on my LA Wallet app that includes my drivers license.

Those who refuse the vaccine should know that they are putting others at risk by going to events where they could contract the virus or pass it on to others.

To say that citizens are being pitted against each other over race and political beliefs is nothing new. We must remember that the civil rights movement has not ended.

The separation between political parties has become increasingly divided which should bring to light the need for more than two parties. The Green and Libertarian parties should be included in national politics instead of being blacklisted and excluded from debates. Having only two controlling parties is just asking for this division between citizens.

The claim that the military is weeding out anyone who doesnt agree with global warming, agrees with the Second Amendment, and has conservative opinions is incorrect. The military is trying to keep extremists from enlisting, not simply refusing all Republicans.

Having claimed that critical race theory is purely Marxism is incorrect. It is not a political faction, rather it is teaching the youth of the country about how racism shaped the way we live and how our public policy was shaped by the racism that has run rampant in our country for hundreds of years.

The First Amendment is one of the most well-known across the country, and it must be known that there are consequences when used to make statements that are hateful or incite violence. Just because we have the right to speak our minds freely, does not mean that people should be allowed to be hateful online with no repercussions. When anyone can post anything online without moderation, online environments will become toxic and ineffective at their goal of giving people a commonplace to have a voice virtually.

No time soon do I see the citizens of The United States of America losing their freedoms. If anything, we will have more individualized freedom away from the exclusive ways of the past.

Timothy Holdiness

Bossier City

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Tens Of Thousands Sign Petition To Stop Jeff Bezos From Returning To Earth – NPR

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Jeff Bezos will join his brother Mark, one paying auction winner and another unnamed person on the Blue Origin rocket bound for space in July. Patrick Semansky/AP hide caption

Jeff Bezos will join his brother Mark, one paying auction winner and another unnamed person on the Blue Origin rocket bound for space in July.

On July 20, Amazon's founder and billionaire magnate Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark will board the New Shepard suborbital rocket system. The Bezos brothers, one auction winner with $28 million to spare, and a fourth person will become the first crew aboard the reusable rocket for its 11-minute voyage to space.

Since Bezos made the announcement about his journey to space this month, tens of thousands of people have come together to petition against his return to the planet.

There are multiple petitions out there, but the front-runner, "Do not allow Jeff Bezos to return to Earth," had collected more than 33,000 signatures by late Sunday. "Billionaires should not exist," the description read. "On Earth, or in space, but should they decide the latter they should stay there."

Bezos is the founder of the space exploration company Blue Origin, which built New Shepard. The rocket is reusable and has capacity for six passengers in its capsule.

"If you see the Earth from space, it changes you. It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. It's one Earth," Bezos said in a video posted to Instagram.

Bezos isn't the only billionaire with his sights set on out-of-this-world endeavors.

Elon Musk is the founder of SpaceX, which has racked up a number of firsts for private spaceflight, including being the first private company to transport astronauts to the International Space Station last year. The company's website advertises trips to space for paying customers. Musk has not announced any immediate space travel plans. But a Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa, booked a trip with SpaceX to travel around the moon in 2023.

Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, also has a space program Virgin Galactic, which has a reusable spacecraft intended for commercial space travel. Branson plans to be on one of Virgin Galactic's upcoming flights.

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A Texas-size space summer has billionaires racing for the heavens – San Antonio Express-News

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Theres something about summer and space travel.

Maybe its that sublime footage of a Saturn V rocket taking off against the blue Florida sky in 1969. You know, that slow motion rise, clouds of steam and sheets of ice flaking off the massive black and white rocket, that bold red U-S-A and billows of flame and smoke.

The clips appear in every video montage about the 1960s. You can almost hear Norman Greenbaums song Spirit in the Sky.

Apollo 11 landing on the moon on July 20, 1969, is the main reason space and summer seem to go together. But other space milestones have occurred in the summer months. On June 3, 1965, San Antonio native Ed White became the first American to walk in space.

On May 30, 2020, SpaceX sent two astronauts to space from American soil for the first time since 2011. The spectacle offered a brief escape from the realities of the pandemic, political chaos and civil turmoil. The launch, known as Demo 2, carried echoes of the late 60s.

On ExpressNews.com: 'This is not SpaceX property': Elon Musk's company looks to rename South Texas town 'Starbase'

2021 is shaping up to be a big space summer, and Texas is playing a leading role, much like it has in the past. But Texas summer space jam doesnt involve NASAs Johnson Space Center as much as it does two commercial space companies, SpaceX and Blue Origin.

The state could see at least two historic launches as two battling billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos look to push their commercial space endeavors to the next step. And its not a stretch to say San Antonio is at the crossroads of this new space race.

Apollo 11 liftoff as seen from the launch tower camera, July 16, 1969.

SpaceX plans to lob its Starship into orbit for the first time from its South Texas launch facility. According to plans filed with the Federal Communication Commission, a Super Heavy booster will carry Starship into orbit and return to earth, splashing down in the gulf 20 miles off the coast of Boca Chica. The Starship will continue its flight and perform a powered landing into the ocean about 60 miles off the coast of Kauai roughly 90 minutes after launch.

Its an impressive plan with a tight timeline. Elon Musk tweeted in March the company planned to do the test flight in July, but thats looking less likely. Federal licensing and authorizations are pending. The Boca Chica orbital launch tower is still under construction, and the company hasnt fully built or tested the Super Heavy booster.

On ExpressNews.com: SpaceX's Boca Chica venture has all the 'versus' categories covered

Then theres the continued legal skirmishes, land battles and the contingent of South Texas SpaceX critics. In the companys latest legal battle, the Cameron County district attorney sent SpaceX a cease and desist letter over complaints its private security staff had illegally denied access to public roads.

But its risky to doubt SpaceX. The commercial space juggernaut surprises critics time and time again.

Oh, and speaking of juggernauts lets talk about the Super Heavy booster. With at least 29 Raptor engines, the 230-foot tall stainless steel beast will be one of the most powerful rockets ever built. And all those engines likely pass through San Antonio on their way to Boca Chica from SpaceXs McGregor test facility.

Then, near Van Horn out in West Texas, Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos plans to fly to space along with his brother, Mark, an unnamed customer who paid $28 million for the seat and another passenger who hasnt been identified yet.

Theyre scheduled to launch July 20 aboard a reusable Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. The flight will last about 11 minutes, taking the crew above the 62-mile-high threshold of space. Blue Origins space capsule is fully autonomated. It features large windows and room for six passengers.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio firm is working on moon launch pads for NASA

New Shepard has had 15 successful consecutive missions, including three escape tests. Bezos and his crew mates will be the first people to fly in the capsule.

And dont forget Sir Richard Bransons commercial space firm, Virgin Galactic. While not in Texas, its a close neighbor at Spaceport America outside Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, about 100 miles from El Paso.

Virgins Unity spacecraft had a successful flight to space on May 22 from the spaceport. The success spawned speculation that Branson might try to beat Bezos to space in July, but Virgin hasnt announced the timing of its next flight.

Closer to home, in San Antonio, Southwest Research Institute remains the areas space heavyweight, and it has a busy summer scheduled.

On ExpressNews.com: Starbase, Texas? Really?

First, NASA announced June 10 that it selected a SwRI payload to go to Schrodingers Basin on the far side of the moon to study the lunar crust, mantle and core. Maybe that research will help Exploration Architecture and University of Texas at San Antonio researchers in the citys burgeoning moon infrastructure scene.

Then, SwRIs Lucy spacecraft, which will study the Trojan asteroids, is shipping to Cape Canaveral in July in preparation for an October launch.

Also over the Summer, scientists are calibrating SwRIs MASPEX Mass Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration instrument that will fly on Europa Clipper, a spacecraft scheduled to launch in 2024.

The Juno spacecraft, which carries SwRI instruments and got an extended lease on life in January, begins its follow-on mission in August that will include multiple flybys, expanding its investigation to the larger Jovian system, including flybys of Jupiters moons.

UVS-JUICE, a SwRI instrument on the European Space Agencys Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission, is on the spacecraft in Toulous, France. Its undergoing environmental vacuum tests this month in preparation for a September 2022 launch.

Finally, the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission, a constellation of four SwRI spacecraft studying the Suns and Earths magnetic fields, got a three-year extension.

So heres to the Texas-sized space summer. Someday, todays space footage may dominate the video montages from the 2020s.

What will the soundtrack be?

Brandon Lingle writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. brandon.lingle@express-news.net

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GANNETT Launches ItsInauguralNon-Fungible Token Inspired by the First NewspaperOnthe Moon – USA TODAY

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Staff, USA TODAY NETWORK PRESSROOM Published 4:27 p.m. ET June 22, 2021

Today,Gannett Co Inc., announced its inaugural non-fungible token (NFT) inspired by the first newspaper delivered to space in 1971.Legendary Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, famously transported a special edition of TODAY, now FLORIDA TODAY and part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, to the moon. To celebrate the 50th anniversary ofShepards visit to the moon, the NFT collection allows bidders the chancetoimmersethemselves with the interactive artwork of the Apollo Landing and relatedNASAmissionsas captured by FLORIDA TODAY.

TheFirst Newspaper Delivered to the Mooncollection includes a photo mosaic video, an interactive photo mosaic illustration, a digital copy of A Space Age History: Mans Odyssey to the Moon,an exclusive behind the scenes Space Coast Tour, lifetime digital subscriptions, and out of this world extras. All auction proceeds willbenefittheAir Force Space & Missile Museum FoundationandThe Gannett Foundation.

Space travel was an inspired theme for our first NFT because it tells the story of innovation and advancement that has been a positive, unifying force in American culture, which is also the aim of Gannetts storytelling, said Kris Barton, Chief Product Officer, Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORK. Our digital subscriber growth can be attributed to our unique content and our ability to use technology like an NFT as we find meaningful ways to bring communities together and engage new audiences.

We are thrilled to be the recipient of this auction recognizing the importance of space exploration and discovery, said Board Chairman of the Air Force Space & Missile Museum Foundation Ray Sands. The funds will support our work to recognize and preserve the historical significance of U.S. Space Force launch activities.

The 48-hour auction will begin on Monday, June 28 at 8 p.m.ETatnft.usatoday.com,powered by Origins NFT Launchpad. Gannett will also be offsetting the NFT footprint with carbon credits.

For more details and the controlling terms and conditions applicable to the auction, visitnft.usatoday.com.

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Gannett Launches Its First Non-Fungible Token – Business Wire

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MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--USA TODAY NETWORK, part of Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI), announced it will auction its inaugural non-fungible token (NFT) inspired by the first newspaper delivered to space in 1971. Powered by Origins NFT Launchpad, which was chosen for its ability to host record-breaking NFT sales on an industry-leading tech platform, the auction will consist of a unique mosaic incorporating more than 300 images from 50 years of space coverage. All auction proceeds will benefit the Air Force Space & Missile Museum Foundation and The Gannett Foundation.

Legendary Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, famously transported a special edition of TODAY, now FLORIDA TODAY and part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, to the moon. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Shepards visit to the moon, the collection allows bidders the chance to immerse themselves with the interactive artwork of the Apollo Landing and related NASA missions.

The First Newspaper Delivered to the Moon collection includes the following:

Space travel was an inspired theme for our first NFT because it tells the story of innovation and advancement that has been a positive unifying force in American culture, which is also the aim of Gannetts storytelling, said Kris Barton, Chief Product Officer, Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORK. Our digital subscriber growth can be attributed to our unique content and our ability to use technology like an NFT as we find meaningful ways to bring communities together and engage new audiences.

We are thrilled to be the recipient of this auction recognizing the importance of space exploration and discovery, said Board Chairman of the Air Force Space & Missile Museum Foundation Ray Sands. The funds will support our work to recognize and preserve the historical significance of U.S. Space Force launch activities.

The 48-hour auction will begin on Monday, June 28 at 8 p.m. ET at nft.usatoday.com, powered by Origins NFT Launchpad. Gannett will also be offsetting the NFT footprint with carbon credits. For more details and the controlling terms and conditions applicable to the auction, visit nft.usatoday.com.

ABOUT GANNETT

Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) is a subscription-led and digitally focused media and marketing solutions company committed to empowering communities to thrive. With an unmatched reach at the national and local level, Gannett touches the lives of millions with our Pulitzer Prize-winning content, consumer experiences and benefits, and advertiser products and services. Our current portfolio of media assets includes USA TODAY, local media organizations in 46 states in the U.S., and Newsquest, a wholly owned subsidiary operating in the United Kingdom with more than 120 local news media brands. Gannett also owns the digital marketing services companies ReachLocal, Inc., UpCurve, Inc., and WordStream, Inc., which are marketed under the LOCALiQ brand, and runs the largest media-owned events business in the U.S., USA TODAY NETWORK Ventures. To connect with us, visit http://www.gannett.com.

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Gannett Launches Its First Non-Fungible Token - Business Wire

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From Richard Branson to Jeff Bezos, space tourism takes flight – Livemint

Posted: at 6:37 am

Test Gods: Virgin Galactic And The Making Of A Modern Astronaut; Penguin Random House UK, Pgs 352; 799 (Courtesy: Penguin Random House)

As Schmidle points out in the book, Branson, Bezos and SpaceX founder Elon Musk have distinct visions for their journeys to space. While Virgin Galactic hopes to carry passengers on a sub-orbital flight, Blue Origin is interested in deep space exploration too. The most ambitious is Musk, who hopes to colonise Mars one day.

With Mark Stucky, however, the author takes the reader on a deeply personal journey, right from his early days as a boy who was born to fly. Inspired by the pioneering aviator John Glenn, and his missions to space in 1962, a three-year-old Stucky told his father he would one day become an astronaut. His first experiences of hang gliding, skydiving with goggles stolen from a chemistry lab and a dodgy parachute, life in the Marine Corps, becoming a pilot with US space agency Nasa and flying the worlds fastest spy jet, serving with the air force during the war in IraqSchmidle puts you on the shoulder of a successful pilot and his passion for flying. The author is no stranger to this feeling. His father, Robert, was a decorated fighter pilot.

Also read: When space is more than rocket science

The triumphs and journey of taking people to space are also dotted with tragic moments. In 2014, Stucky saw one of his closest friends and co-pilots, Michael Alsbury, die in a crash of the Virgin SpaceShipTwo space vehicle VSS Enterprise. Schmidle poignantly describes the small margins of error and the risks that come with the job.

It was a simple technical mistake by Alsbury, an experienced test pilot, that led to the crash as aerodynamic forces tore the ship apart. The tragedy hit Stucky hard but didnt deter him. An expectation of sudden death came with the job; test pilots learned to metabolize mortality differently than the rest of us, Schmidle writes.

Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity, piloted by CJ Sturckow and Dave Mackay, is released from its mothership, VMS Eve, on the way to its first spaceflight after launch from Spaceport America, New Mexico, U.S. May 22, 2021 in a still image from video. (Virgin Galactic/Handout via REUTERS)

There is, of course, the elation of flying to space, experiencing weightlessness and returning safely to Earth. In December 2018, Stucky and his co-pilot Frederick Sturckow, also a former Nasa astronaut, took the SpaceShipTwo more than 51 miles (roughly around 82.7km) above Earth, a mark used by the US to denote the beginning of space. This was a major boost for Virgin Galacticand the industry is expecting much more, in the form of commercial operations for instance, by the end of the year.

For those who can afford it and the ones with the right risk appetite, nothing else comes close to space travel, says Schmidle. A Himalayan expedition seemed almost pedestrian by comparison.

This brings up another question, recently posed by the Associated Press: As private space flight picks up speed, who should be called an astronaut? What do we call the people who are reportedly willing to pay up to $55 million for a seat on a space rocket? Amateur astronauts or space tourists? Space sightseers or rocket riders? Schmidles book leads you to some answers. But more importantly, it takes you on a well-reported journey on what inspires people to chase their dreams.

Also read: Egos clash as Bezos, Musk compete in the modern space race

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From Richard Branson to Jeff Bezos, space tourism takes flight - Livemint

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Jefferson research looks to outer space to learn about human health on Earth – The Philadelphia Inquirer

Posted: at 6:37 am

As an oncologist, Adam Dicker has seen how cancer treatments can pummel the body to knock out tumors, sometimes leading to deteriorating bones, more infections, and haywire sleep cycles. But others have observed similar ailments in a group of healthy people: astronauts who spend time in space.

Next year, Dicker and fellow researchers at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University will launch three studies of how space travel affects aspects of the human body immunity, microbes in urine, and stress as part of the first private mission to the International Space Station. Researchers believe that the unique environment in space can also shed light on human health on Earth.

I never thought Id ever do a project in space, said Paul H. Chung, assistant professor of urology at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, who is involved in one of the space studies. Most people dont even know the logistics of how someone would do a project in space.

The eight-day mission is the first of its kind to be approved by NASA. Organized by Axiom Space, on Jan. 22, 2022, a SpaceX rocket will ferry four paying passengers to the International Space Station along with 44 scientific experiments commissioned by the Ramon Foundation and the Israel Space Agency. So far one passenger, former Israeli fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe, has volunteered to participate in the studies.

Dicker, professor and chair of radiation oncology at Jefferson, said the immune system in particular takes a beating in both astronauts and people undergoing cancer treatment.

Astronauts arent as immunosuppressed as cancer patients, but thematically we saw a linkage, Dicker said. No one has really studied the immune system in a comprehensive way with astronauts.

Astronauts who have previously returned from space missions have become easy targets for viruses that were lying dormant in their bodies for years, like the herpes virus that causes shingles. To figure out how space might weaken the immune system, Dickers team will collect blood from the participating space travelers before and after their journey and measure more than 7,000 proteins. Previous studies have measured changes to DNA, but measuring proteins which are made based on DNA and carry out tasks in the body gets closer to what matters, Dicker said.

Hes hoping to see patterns in groups of immune proteins that rise or fall while the astronauts are in space, which could point to ways to improve immune function for astronauts and Earth-dwellers alike.

For cancer patients, Dicker said this could shed light on how the immune system responds to the stressors of treatment, which mirror an astronauts experience in space: physical stress, emotional stress, gastrointestinal problems, disturbed sleep.

Chung is counting on space to help him study the microbiome, the trillions of microscopic organisms living inside the human body. Theres a myth that urine is sterile, but as a urologist, Chung knows better; its actually full of microbes like bacteria and fungi. The microbiome is better studied in the digestive system, where the more friendly varieties of bacteria can help digestion while others can cause discomfort. But the urinary microbiome is murkier, and scientists still dont know how it changes, Chung said.

Putting someone in space and studying the microbiome is kind of the most extreme thing that you could potentially do in regards to diet and gravity, Chung said. If we can see changes in the microbiome in space, then that will help us to better understand how changes in the microbiome may occur on Earth.

Urine is also no laughing matter in space: Being unable to urinate warrants a NASA rescue mission, and astronauts are at high risk of developing kidney stones or urinary tract infections.

Astronauts will use a mess-free apparatus similar to toilets on board the shuttle to collect and freeze urine. Back on Earth, scientists will sequence the genetic material in the urine to figure out what types of microbes it contains.

Its trickier to collect human samples in outer space than in Philadelphia. Dicker decided not to collect blood samples while the astronauts were in space because of the risk of making them anemic and the weight and cost the equipment would add to the delicately balanced space shuttle.

In a third study, Jefferson brain scientists will continue their ongoing investigation into how the stress of space travel affects sleep and health.

Dicker hopes this mission is just a starting point and may help prepare for future trips: The space station is suborbital, which means conditions wont be as extreme as what astronauts might encounter traveling to proposed destinations like Mars.

This is the beginning of a road map, Dicker said. Its completely uncharted.

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Jefferson research looks to outer space to learn about human health on Earth - The Philadelphia Inquirer

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